Seductive in Stilettos 3: New Adult Romance

  SEDUCTIVE IN STILETTOS 3

  NEW ADULT ROMANCE

  NANA MALONE

  NANA O. MALONE

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales, is entirely coincidental.

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  Seductive In Stilettos 3 (Serial)

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  COPYRIGHT © 2015 by Nana Malone

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  All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission of the author except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles or reviews.

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  Cover Art by Kimberly Killion

  Edited by Finish the Story

  Copy Edited by Marcie Gately

  Published in the United States of America

  To Stilettos fans old and new. I can’t wait to start a new chapter with you.

  THE IN STILETTOS SERIES

  The In Stilettos Series (Contemporary Romance)

  Sexy in Stilettos (Alec & Jaya)

  Sultry in Stilettos (Beckett & Ricca)

  Sassy in Stilettos (Caleb & Micha)

  Strollers & Stilettos (Alec & Jaya & Alexa)

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  (New Adult Contemporary Romance Serials)

  Seductive in Stilettos (Shane & Tristia)

  **Sinful in Stilettos - Expected 2015

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  The Chase Brothers Series (New Adult Contemporary Romance)

  London Bound (Alexi & Abbie)

  **London Calling (Xander & Imani) - Expected May 2015

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  The Donovans Series (New Adult Contemporary Romance)

  Come Home Again (Nate & Delilah)

  Love Reality (Ryan & Mia)

  **Race For Love - Expected Summer 2015

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  Love Match Series (Contemporary Romance)

  *Game Set Match (Jason & Izzy)

  Mismatch (Eli & Jessica)

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  Chick-Lit With Sass (Erotic Chick-Lit Romance)

  Corporate Affairs

  Exposed

  The Flirtation

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  The Protectors Series (Superhero Romance)

  *Betrayed a Reluctant Protector Prequel

  Reluctant Protector (Cassie & Seth)

  Wounded Protector (Jansen & Lisa)

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  The Hit & Run Bride Contemporary Romance Series (Contemporary Romance)

  Hit & Run Bride (Liam & Becca)

  Hit & Miss Groom (Alex & Vanessa)

  **Book Three - Expected winter 2015

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  Don’t want to miss a single release? Click here: http://eepurl.com/2PeXb

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  *Free Read

  **Upcoming release. Dates Subject to Change

  CHAPTER 1

  Shane didn’t make it back to his room until four–thirty in the morning. He hesitated on the threshold for a minute, not sure if he wanted Tris to be on the other side of the door.

  When he let himself inside and found his room empty, his disappointment was palpable in the squeeze of his heart. Idiot. You can’t have her. Caleb had been clear with his hands-off Tris directive. So what the fuck was he doing? Was being with her really worth losing the first real sense of family he’d ever had?

  He saw her note on the desk, and a pang of guilt pierced him dead center in the chest. Shit. How long had she waited before going back to her room? How had she felt? Then, the more unhelpful thought—had she been aching for him?

  He needed a much better plan because staying away from her was becoming a problem.

  First mistake, letting Tris into his room. Second mistake, kissing her. Third mistake, putting his mouth on those pert, full, breasts of hers. His hands itched with the need to touch her again. He was an idiot.

  Last night, he'd been all kinds of ragey at the dumb-fucks who'd gotten wasted in their room and needed a ride to the hospital. Luckily, he'd been able to get War to take his place and keep an eye on Tris for the duration of his little hospital trip, but once his blood cooled and he started thinking with the head on top of his shoulders, not the one in his shorts, he knew he'd fucked up. It didn't matter how much he wanted her, she had no business in his bed. He knew from experience that bad things happened when he let himself want something. They were taken away.

  At sixteen, he’d had his first girlfriend, Christa Cummings. She’d been a freshman at UNLV with him and a couple of years older than he was. He’d managed to keep it a secret from the old man for months, using the classes excuse and War to explain his absences.

  But somehow, his father had known. Once, the two of them had snuck off to a motel so they could be alone. He’d worked several extra shifts just to be able to afford to take her there. They’d been so excited and hot for each other that he’d missed seeing his father’s red Audi in the parking lot.

  When they’d checked into their room, they’d been so desperate and in a hurry to get each other’s clothes off that they paid little attention to the shadow in the corner.

  His father had known all about their plan. He’d followed Shane more than once, hacked his email. Done his research. Needless to say, it had freaked Christa out.

  Shane was at least grateful that his father had saved the beating until Christa had left. Having her see him humiliated like that would have broken him in ways his father never could. He’d taken the beating. Taken the words. Loser. Failure. Bastard. As long as she didn’t see it. The old man had been livid that he’d jeopardized his future. Went on and on about how women could trap him.

  But Christa hadn't escaped his father’s wrath unscathed. Daddy Dearest had pulled information about Christa’s family and her parents. He’d threatened to have her father fired from his casino job if she ever went anywhere near Shane again.

  She’d never spoken to Shane again. He had been desperate to apologize, but she’d avoided him, never giving him a chance to explain or to say how sorry he was to drag her into his fucked up world. It was a lesson he hadn’t forgotten.

  Things were different now; the asshole was dead. But girls like Tris were still off limits. Not only was he the hired help, but he was also lying to her. It didn’t matter how much he wanted her; she couldn’t be his.

  So, now, of course, he was about to do the douchebag thing and pull back from her. Fuck. He needed this shot with Caleb. He could not screw this up. If he did, that meant everything his father had ever said about him was the truth. Despite his rational brain, those long-buried insults bubbled to the surface. Loser. Screw up. Worthless.

  If he closed his eyes, he could almost smell the scotch on his father's breath as he spat in his face, screaming at him that if he wasn't perfect no one would love him. Shane shook his head. He had to make this work. Forgetting Tris was for the best. All he had to do was give her the new phone, and then he'd get on with this event and put her back in that untouchable zone.

  Surprisingly, when his dick wasn't in charge, he didn't actually mind the job of babysitting a bunch of hormonal college students. And if he could keep his fucking dick in his pants, he wouldn't have a problem. Maybe he should enjoy the post like Warrick said. But he wouldn't be enjoying it with Tris. There were plenty of graduate students on campus. Ones he wouldn't lose his job over.

  An image of Tris’s back arching as he sucked on her nipples flashed in his mind. Yeah, okay, maybe another girl wasn't the way to solve his problem. He wanted Tris. And this wasn't a situation where he could get her out of his s
ystem. He couldn't just screw her until he didn't feel the desperate cloying need anymore. She wasn't that girl. And he wasn't asshole enough to do that to her. So what then?

  Suffer in silence.

  His phone rang, and he dragged it out of his pocket. "Hey, Un—Caleb." He kept forgetting not to call him Uncle. His old man was probably turning in his grave at the disrespect. "What's up?"

  "Just checking in. I ran a trace on the number you gave me. It's coming up as a burner. I can't trace it."

  "Any luck on pinpointing where it was when it called?"

  "Yeah, somewhere in the vicinity of Pacific Beach. It bounced off a couple of towers there. But other than that, nothing."

  He could hear the frustration in his uncle's voice, and he empathized. No one should be able to access her number, and it made him increasingly suspicious of an inside connection to her stalker. "I'm on my way to give her the new phone now. I already told her to leave that one in her room. Her room is defensible enough, but I'd rather she use the burner while she's out and about."

  "She cool with that?"

  Well, she had been last night, before he'd had her nipples between his lips and his dick grinding against her soft center. "Yeah, she's cool."

  "You two forming a bond?"

  If you mean the bond of me wanting to fuck her until she can’t remember her name, then yeah. "Yeah, she trusts me at least enough to come to me with this. So that's a good sign."

  "Good. Stay close. Call me if anything else comes up."

  "Yeah, will do. How many guys do you have on the Go-Cart venue?"

  "I've got Tom and the new guy."

  "Thanks. Should be okay."

  "Have fun babysitting."

  Shane hung up and knocked on Tris's door. She wore a T-shirt and skimpy white shorts, showing off a long expanse of cinnamon brown legs. His brain gave the command to his eyeballs to stay on her face, but they weren't in the mood for taking orders. His gaze pinned to her legs then slowly meandered up until he fixated on her breasts. Her nipples pebbled under his scrutiny, and his mouth watered.

  Her voice was soft, husky. "Uh, hi, Shane."

  His gaze snapped up to her eyes. Pupils dilated, lips slightly parted. Damn it. If he kept thinking about her breasts, he'd forget he was supposed to be protecting her.

  "Morning." He held up the phone. As an added bonus, he'd put a tracking chip in there that wouldn't drain the battery too much. "New phone, as promised."

  She blinked. "Oh, you didn't have to get me one. I was going to go to the Verizon store and grab a new one myself."

  He shrugged. "Well, there are some perks to being an RA. You can go down and activate it after the Go-Carting. You know, pick out your plan or whatever."

  Her smile was slow. "Thank you. That was really sweet." She darted a glance behind her as Xia started singing.

  Right. Her roommates were home, so there would be no awkward rehash of how much he wanted to pin her against the door and sink into her. "Like I said, no problem. You guys ready for carting?"

  She nodded. "You bet. Xia and Syd have been trash talking all morning."

  He cocked his head. "Not you?"

  Tris shook her head, and then shoved a hand into her pocket. The action drew her already low-rise shorts even lower, giving him an idea of her waxing pattern. Fuck, he needed help. The last thing he wanted to think about was whether or not she waxed. It would only serve as torture for him.

  "Nope, no need to trash talk when you know you're going to mop the floor with people. It's just not fair."

  Her competitive streak sent a shot of adrenalized lust through his veins. "Uh oh. Do we have a ringer? Should I watch out for you on the track?"

  "All I'm saying is, I know what I'm good at. If you think you can lay it down, then bring it."

  Hell, yes. No. Hell, no. She was not talking about sex. She was talking about Go-Carts. "I hear you loud and clear. Get your gear, we leave in fifteen."

  The moment he was out of her company, he was able to focus again. Able to think. Oh yeah, and his dick wasn't threatening to drain all the blood from his body.

  Once they were at the track, he was able to concentrate on something other than Tris. He spotted Caleb's men easily enough. Not because they stood out. But because they were so in the background he wouldn't have noticed them. Tom was the cashier and happily allowed the co-eds to flirt with him. James was a little harder to spot, but he was in the mechanics bay, so he had the exit covered while Tom covered the front.

  Caleb's right-hand guy also had all security cams on, so Shane felt comfortable enough having Tris here. His floor of students was fifty, but only thirty had signed on for the weekend fun. And of the thirty, only twenty-five were not hung over and actually made it on the excursion.

  Occasionally, he'd catch Tris or one of her crew watching him, and he had to wonder how much she'd told them. He wasn't so concerned about them ratting him out, but they could prove to be a problem if they perceived him as hurting their friend.

  And Tris hadn't been kidding when she said she could drive. She breezed by her roommates easily. She was good enough that the guys started to take notice of something besides those incredibly long legs of hers. One of them, Travis, kept chatting to her, and Shane worked hard to ignore the irrational response roiling around in his head. Mine. But he tamped it down. She was not his. He couldn't have her. This was college; she was supposed to have boys flirt with her. Repeat after me, I will not take that douchebag's head off. I will not take that douchebag's head off. I will not—

  His phone rang, and he pulled it out. "What?"

  War's chuckle was soft. "What bee stung you on your asshole?"

  "Fuck off."

  "Whoa, easy there. I'm just fucking with you. What's up?"

  "I'm at the Go-Cart place with my charges."

  "Ahhh, let me guess, one in particular has your full attention?"

  "You could say that."

  "You need to chill out, man. She's just a girl."

  "You think I don’t know that?"

  "Right now, you're just thinking with your dick."

  Shane forced himself to take a breath. She was laughing at something Travis said before she climbed into her Go-Cart. The kid climbed into the one next to her. Shane couldn't help the hope that she wiped the floor with him. "I know. Sorry, man, what's up?"

  "I'm just giving you the head's up. Tris called Ricca with the new phone, so you might have to deal with Roland's guys finding out."

  He hated the idea of anyone listening to her conversations, but it was necessary. "Yeah, okay."

  "She asked Ricca not to tell her dad, but Ricca's an unknown element, so don’t know."

  "Thanks."

  "No problem. Look, I'm giving you shit, but if you like her that much, then maybe you come clean to Caleb. Might not be so bad."

  "Yeah, imagine Caleb was my dad, and repeat what you just said?"

  "Good point," his friend muttered. Growing up next door, War had seen just a sliver of his father's temper but knew enough to know it was bad.

  "I'll figure it out." He hung up with War and watched as Tris schooled her would-be suitor.

  The kid climbed out of his cart and leaned over hers. He said something that wiped the smile off her lips and had her eyes going wide. Then, her gaze shifted over to Shane and his skin prickled. Just knowing she was watching him was enough to make his skin tight and itchy.

  Without even thinking about it, he sauntered over to the track and picked up on the tail end of their conversation.

  "Thanks, can I let you know?"

  Travis shrugged, but the slump in his shoulders told Shane he'd just been rejected. "Yeah, sure, open invitation."

  Feeling lighter, Shane grinned. "Tris, I don’t know if anyone told you, but you're supposed to give someone a chance to win here."

  She grinned up at him, and it was impossible not to smile back. The kid slanted him a glance, and Shane was suddenly aware he needed to be careful how it was perceived. He slapped Tr
avis on the back. "I saw you give Travis a run for his money. Why don't you give the poor man a rematch?"

  The kid relaxed. "Yo, she's tough, why don’t you race her? I need to lick my wounds first."

  Shane inclined his head at Tris. "Oh, I don’t know, it wouldn't be fair."

  Her brows rose. "Oh, really? Want to put your money where your mouth is?"

  I want to put all kinds of things into my mouth. "It's generally frowned upon for me to gamble with students, but how about we race for bragging rights?"

  "You're on."

  He put his helmet on and slid into the empty cart. Switching the engine on, he relished the rumbling sound. It wasn't a precision instrument, but he still loved it. Evasive driving had been his favorite part of the Foreign Service. That and the tech.

  Tris leaned out of her cart. "Are we still going to be friends after I kick your ass?"

  "Well, I'll be your friend even as you lick your wounds." Or I could lick them for you. Something in her eyes made him wonder if she could read his mind.

  The starting light changed green, and they were off. She had a fast start, he'd give her that. But she was all throttle all the time, and it made her back end a little unstable. She gave him a love tap as she blew by him, and she heard the cheers around the track.

  But he wasn't out for the count. As they rounded the corner, he cut to the inside and tapped her as a reminder that he was there. On the far straight away, they were neck and neck and then her racing method got her in trouble. He blew past her on the inside lane, then blocked her attempts to pass on the final straight.

  He crossed the finish line easily to cheers from the sidelines. Tris pulled up next to him, lips pursed.

  He laughed. "Come now. Don't be salty. Good race." He climbed out and took his helmet off then reached out a hand to her to help her out.